New Makeup

This weekend I hung out with my dad. First, we went to lunch at our favorite Chinese place Bei Fang. Then we did some shopping. The first place I wanted to go was Ulta, since I needed makeup and I'd been researching some online. I initially wanted to try Bare Minerals, even though it's pretty expensive. Then, I read reviews where people said that it was difficult to apply, exaggerated wrinkles, and didn't last very long. Well, that's my primary complaint against mineral makeup. So then, I didn't know which liquid foundation to go to since I'd tried almost all of them, except for the more expensive ones. So I researched again and heard about this other one called Dermablend. It's supposed to be really good at covering scars, etc. The reviews sounded good, so I decided that would be what I would get. It's a little high, being that the foundation and powder were both $20. But I had a coupon for 20% off. However, I have a problem finding the correct shade and I didn't want to buy it being that it cost that much, and then what if I didn't like it? So, a woman there gave me a consultation and picked the shade for me. Really, I think the shade matches very well. Anyway, then I paid for it, since I really wanted to get my dad out of there. I know he's uncomfortable in these really girlie places like that. But then, after I paid, he showed me 2 other items in the store, like he'd been looking around. He seemed pretty excited about them, too. I mean, one was makeup, so I'm sure he just thought I'd like it. The other was a hair dryer. But I thought that was funny since I thought he was in a hurry to leave!

Anyway, my review of Dermablend:

It goes on looking very natural and is really easy to apply. I can use my fingers and it takes only a very small amount to cover my whole face. It doesn't completely cover my acne scars, but it diminishes the appearance of them, which is great. I'm sure I just need their concealer, but that's another $20. Anyway, it lasts all day and looks fresh the entire time. I mean, it looks like I'm not wearing anything at all. I love it. I'd recommend it to anyone. The setting powder is great because it's translucent. It's a white powder, but it goes on looking clear. So it doesn't change shades as my skin produces oil, like most powders do. That was my other complaint with other makeups. So even if I matched the shade of the foundation pretty well (which is hard to do since my skin is a weird color), the powder would look too dark or too light. LOVE IT!

LA

Realized I didn't talk about my LA trip. Well, to be honest there wasn't much to it since little E got scarlet fever. So, for the first couple of days, we got to see a few things. Mostly we ate and went shopping. So the first day, we just walked around in Burbank and shopped at Urban Outfitters, which there isn't a location of in San Antonio. We also saw this coffee house called La Mill. That was pretty good, too. I had a Valrhona mocha. Ethan had vanilla bean ice cream that looked pretty good. We hung out with R's friend G there and then did the shopping. Then, we went back to R's apartment and ordered takeout and sat on R's roof deck. It was a nice night and there's a nice view from up there, so it was very nice and relaxing.

Day 2 we drove up the Pacific Coast Highway. We didn't go that far down it, but it was a nice view. I took a few photos when I could get a clear shot. We wanted to stop and see the beach, but there wasn't any parking being that it was a Saturday. For lunch we had Cuban sandwiches and a dessert of mango mousse.

Sunday, we went to Old Town Pasadena and went shopping. We picked up some treats for Bucky for his birthday at Three Dog Bakery. We missed S and D's call, but they called again that evening and came over for drinks. We sat on the roof again.

The next day, Ethan was sick. On top of that, S and D were in a car accident and were too shaken up to drive back to R's apartment. So that day was pretty much a bummer. Tuesday, R took E to the doctor, where he got the scarlet fever diagnosis. S and D came and picked me up and we went to eat at Porto's for Cuban sandwiches again. Then, we went and got coffee in Burbank and did a little shopping. That night, they came by and said goodbye to R and E since they were going to be leaving the next day. The rest of the time we were pretty much stuck at home since C was at work. However, R and I did go to the mall my last night there and we had these really good smoothies and did some shopping. We picked up food for later, though. So, not much. I need to go back since we didn't get to do much sightseeing. : (

Sorry!

Sorry I haven't been on here in a while. I've been busy. Got a new job. Went to visit R in LA. Then, got scarlet fever. Yippee. So, haven't been doing this much. Been on Facebook mostly as it doesn't take as long to keep updated on there. So, I apologize should there actually be any readers out there anymore.

Lately, I guess I've been sick a lot and really worried about my health. It costs so much to go to the doctor and I really don't have enough money to go when I need to, even with the new job. I did go to the doctor with the scarlet fever, though. I mean, I guess the diagnosis was pretty scary when little E got it. I ended up getting it from him. E didn't really have a rash that we could tell, so we weren't sure. But the evening before I went to the doctor, there it came on me. It didn't really itch or anything. It just confirmed the diagnosis. So I had to take antibiotics for 10 days. Luckily, Dr. R is really good and he knows about my money situation, so he picked one that would be really cheap. In fact, with the generic, it was only $5 with this prescription plan from HEB that I'm on. Thank you, Dr. R. He also gave me a prescription for nausea, which is a common problem with me. I took it with the scarlet fever and it knocked me out, though. I wish it wasn't such a strong sedative. Then, I took it the other night when I had trouble sleeping and I still fought it off! I mean, one time a doctor prescribed codeine because of the insomnia, and it still didn't help. I can fight off just about anything when I can't sleep. Anyway, so I know that if I have one of these severe attacks of nausea, I'll at least have the prescription and not have to rush off to the emergency clinic. That'll help money-wise.

Still, I know there's something else wrong. I don't know if it could be one of my prescriptions or not. I mean, I kind-of remember having this whole thing start with the thyroid thing, and not so much with the start of my psychiatric treatment. So, I really don't think it's the meds. But I have this problem with fainting spells. I just get really faint for about a half hour to an hour and then it goes away. It usually comes up in the morning or evening and not so much in the afternoons for some reason. But I still worry that it will happen while I'm driving or something. Or else I'll end up getting hurt and end up going to the ER. THAT would suck. Once I passed out outside and banged my head on the concrete. Somehow I hurt my hand, too, as I had a death grip on the stair railing. Luckily that wasn't too severe, but you never know when it'll happen. I'd really feel better if I could get a job with insurance. The one I have now doesn't. However, it's a small company and I know they really can't afford that.

I did get to act in one commercial, though. I was just an extra, so I was just in the background of the first one. Well, it was more than one commercial for the same company and they filmed them all the same day. So I was in a few commercials. It was a local thing, to extend term limits for city council members, who currently can only serve 2 2-year terms. The premise of the commercials was that it wasn't enough time to get anything done. I didn't really care either way, but it was $100 for a day. I know I don't get paid $100 a day where I work. So, cool. I showed up in the morning, and I was really early because traffic was surprisingly light, even though it was just before rush hour. So they let me grab coffee and breakfast from the crew trailer. I didn't sleep very well the night before and I was exhausted. Then, the other actors started arriving and they made an area for us in the waiting area of the restaurant for us to gather and fill out paperwork. Basically signing in that we were there and giving contact information (the agency's contact information, in other words). Then, some of us were chosen to go into the restaurant and sit down. I was chosen, but they wanted me to change my shirt to better go with the other 2 people at my table. They wanted us to look business-casual like we were at a business lunch.

Then, they brought out food! It was a Mexican restaurant, and the brought out a nice plate of cheese enchiladas for me, along with rice and beans. It was really good. They encouraged us to eat the food. They took our drink orders (more coffee for me). Then, a "waitress" kept coming to our table during filming to refill our cups. Cool! So I probably drank about 5 cups of coffee. My stomach was NOT happy with me, but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to drive othewise. We were the background and the main action was at the table next to mine. Those were the speaking parts. So, since they were speaking, we couldn't speak or we'd have been too loud. So we were supposed to mouth our conversation. We felt pretty silly, but we were still able to converse with each other. So it was fun.

Then, they filmed another scene in the restaurant and they picked me and 3 other people from the first shoot to do it. I guess we had the right "look". Have no idea what that was, but...cool. I sat with this other guy and we chatted for a while as well. We didn't really mouth our conversation, though. We sort-of whispered, but no one said anything. Actually, I forgot to mention that in the first scene, the "host" came over to our table at the end of the scene. I MAY have ended up in that shot. I don't know. I haven't seen the commercial. I was probably in the background anyway, but I may have gotten a closer-up shot at the end!

Anyway, after we filmed the second restaurant scene, we got a break. I went to Da Vinci Gelato for an hour and got even more coffee! Then, we met at this studio for the second set of commercials. In this one, we had to be in business clothes. So I changed into my pumps, which were horribly uncomfortable. It was lunch by then. They bought food for us and there were sandwiches and pizza for everyone. More people were at this one that the last one. We went into the studio and it was painted completely white, with only a revolving door at the center of it. We were supposed to walk through the door over and over again. My feet hurt soooo badly. But they made all kinds of jokes with us, saying we were the best walkers they'd had all day, etc., etc. It was so much fun. They went down the line and gave us numbers, like picked the order we were going to walk through the door and gave us numbers so we could get back in line again later. I ended up being number 6. So naturally, I made some stupid Prisoner reference. No one got it, of course. Really, I didn't think it was that obscure. They even replayed the whole thing on Sci-Fi a few years ago and AMC is making a series based on it as well. Anyway, I enjoyed it. We got out by 4:00. Not bad for $100. Of course, I had to go to work afterwards, but I was okay to drive by then. I guess the caffeine had worn off, but I'd been awake for long enough at that point.

I wouldn't mind doing another one, but I need headshots for that. I did have those headshots done a while back--the free ones---but they haven't come in yet. The photographer has had all sorts of problems and apologizes. He knows it's been way too long. But he says they're coming "soon", whatever that means. I've pretty much given up on them and think I should re-shoot. I hate to spend the money on them, but if I want to do any more of these commercials and TV and stuff I need them. I don't know. Should I? I mean, you only live once, right?

The other thing is that Mom and I got tickets to see Duran Duran at the Majestic Theatre! Yea! I'm so excited. I haven't been to a concert in a long time, and I haven't been to that venue in ages, either. I've always loved that venue. My first concert ever was at that venue. I wish I could have seen Tim Finn in Austin, but hey. You can't have everything. Tickets just cost so much these days and it's not like I have money to spend on stuff like that. I mean, my trip to LA was "bought" by C's mom with her airline miles. I didn't even buy that. Another reason I'm concerned about getting headshots. Everyone tells me I should do it, though. They say I'd be good at acting. I don't know about that, though. Acting for friends and family is different than doing it for a stranger, you know? Maybe classes would help. I don't know.

Well, I guess I'd better go for now. I'm supposed to be working, but I just don't have anything to do. I'd better TRY to look busy, though! : )

Soon...

I'll start getting paid. Not soon enough for my taste, of course. But starting September 1st, I'll be getting money for all the work I'm doing. I don't know why it couldn't have been sooner as I've been doing the job all this time and not in training anymore. And especially the past couple of weeks, since everyone was in LA, there was no one to do the job but me. There were only 3 people in the office most of the time, although the 3rd person was gone for Thursday and Friday and then there were only 2 of us. I have no idea how much I'll be making or how often I'll get paid or anything. I'll probably have to wait until the CEO gets back from LA as she's going to be there until the 27th, whereas most people will be back next week.

I wanted to go to LA to visit R, but the air travel arrangements were supposed to be made by C's mom, who tends to put things off. It could be that she waits too long to do it and I won't end up going. But obviously, my twin sis R lives there, along with her family and I'd like to see them. Plus, on top of that, my friends S and D will be there visiting from England and I'd like to see them as well. I just hope the trip ends up happening. But C's mom was going to pay for it out of her air miles, and there's only a few seats the airline uses for those reward tickets, so they may be booked up already...and she wants to WAIT until the beginning of September to do it. Crazy. I wish I'd be getting paid sooner so that maybe I could pay for my own ticket, but no such luck. I'll be lucky to pay my bills as there's just not enough time to save up for a plane fare if I'm not getting paid until September and I'd planned on leaving on Sept. 26. Ugh. I hate waiting on other people to do things for me. I wish I could just do it all myself. : (

The best meal ever!!!!

Really, I can't imagine any food ever tasting good ever again in comparison. I had wanted to get something flambe ever since I was a kid. I'd always seen it done in movies and on TV and always wanted to be the one with the flambe dessert. But the problem with that was that all the restaurants in town that do that are fairly expensive. So I told Dad that what I really wanted for my birthday was the dessert. We didn't even have to get food if we couldn't afford it. But Dad surprised me and got me dinner at Bohanan's. It's this steak place here in San Antonio, downtown and across from the Majestic Theatre. Dad said he'd fixed machines in the area and always smelled Bohanan's and thought it smelled really good. But it's one of the pricier restaurants in San Antonio, so we've never been there before. Well, when we first got there, they asked if we had a reservation and I have to admit that I'd wondered if we should get one, but then decided against it. I guess Dad thought the same thing. But we were there just shortly after 5:00, so it was still early. They said they had a table upstairs for us, but we had to go around a corner and up the elevator to the second floor. The guy also said something that neither Dad nor I could make out. I have no idea why. He didn't have that strong of an accent, and the accent he had a was a Hispanic one and one I've heard everywhere around town, so it's not like it's one I'm unfamiliar with. But he was talking really fast and kind-of slurring his words, like he'd given the directions so many times that he barely knew what he was saying anymore. Dad couldn't make it out either, but we understood, "elevator" and "second floor", so we walked down to the elevator and pushed the button for the second floor. When it stopped, we got out and we were in this really elegant room that looked like it was for private parties or something. There was no staff in there whatsoever, even though we walked around and snooped a little trying to find someone. But Dad thought he saw a button on the elevator that was for rear doors, so we got back on and pushed the button and sure enough, rear doors opened and there was a restaurant there! We stepped out and they asked if we had a reservation. We said no. They said it wasn't a problem, but took our last name and asked if it was a special occasion. I said no, but I must have hesitated because they didn't believe me. So I just specified that I didn't want anyone to come and sing to us or anything to embarrass us. They said they didn't do that, which was a huge relief. But they escorted us to a small table for 2, where the guy seating us sprinkled rose petals on the table. Well, I'm guessing that in addition to it being very pretty and elegant, that it's also a signal to the staff that there's a birthday as everyone would come by and say "happy birthday" to me. How they knew it was me and not Dad, I don't know! But they were very nice and gave us a couple of books that we thought were the menus. In fact, they were the wine list, which was pretty extensive. If I liked wine, I'm sure I'd be thrilled. But then this man came by who was dressed like all the waiters in Paris, with the slacks, white shirt and apron, and he wanted to take our drink order. Both of us just wanted water, so he left and brought back our drinks. Then, this guy came by in a suit that we assumed was the manager, which was really nice as we were getting a lot of personal attention. He brought by the menus and a starting course of candied jalapenos in cream cheese (way creamier and softer than any cream cheese I've ever had) with those crisp bread slices that are for bruschetta. The bread was so light and buttery that I could have eaten it by itself. It was just a bonus to have the cream cheese, which was better than any other cream cheese I've ever had. They must make it themselves as I can't imagine any store selling anything that good. Really, candied jalapenos sounded really disgusting. I mean, I'd heard of candied peppers and didn't think anything of that. I guess I just didn't think of jalapenos as a possible dessert pepper, but it was surprisingly good and we at it all way too quickly. The manager came by and asked if we wanted more, which I did, but Dad didn't want to fill up before the meal and he wanted us to save room for dessert. Really, it was so good I was thinking about it all that night as I tried to sleep and all the next day.

The manager then came by and told us about the daily specials, which included escargot, which he said was so good that even people who don't like escargot will like theirs. Some of it sounded really good and I wouldn't have minded trying it, but I was set on getting something small, like soup, so that I'd have room for dessert. Then, the guy came back later with a tray full of steaks, when he described their "premium" steaks that aren't available all the time. Well, I thought they sounded fantastic, but the cheaper ones were $79, whereas the better ones were $95. I'm sure they're wonderful, but the cheaper steaks were $35 and I thought that was high enough. At that, though, Dad thought the steaks on the menu were cheaper than he expected and he wanted to get a steak. Well, they're famous for their steaks. How could we pass that up? So we both decided on steak. I felt I needed to let Dad know that you had to buy the side dishes separately, to which he seemed to understand, until he asked me what came with the steak, when I had to tell him that nothing came with them. You ordered the side dishes separately. Oh. The side dishes all sounded great, but none of them were anything intimidating. In fact, it was all basically fancified versions of "comfort food". By then, we had decided what we wanted and the manager came back, by which time we realized that he wasn't the manager, but our waiter. He was just wearing a really nice suit, so we assumed he was a manager, but all the waitstaff were dressed the same, somehow elegantly carrying those huge serving trays in one hand above the tables, even the women who had to do it all in high heels. The restaurant itself was beautiful, too. We were very impressed by them.

Anyway, as we waited for our steaks, they also brought by a small basket of 3 different types of bread along with a dish of the creamiest and lightest butter I've ever had. It was amazing. Of course, we chatted for a while before our steaks came. That took a while as it's a nice restaurant and they take their time to prepare the food. When the steaks arrived, we realized there was no salt or pepper on the table, and I didn't want to ask for it, afraid that was just something that people there just didn't do. So I tasted the steak and found it to be somehow perfectly seasoned and amazingly good. It needed nothing at all. I've had some really good steaks before, too, especially in Paris. In fact, when I got back from Paris, I didn't like the steaks in America as no one seemed to prepare them properly. But this one was the best steak I'd ever eaten. It was perfectly juicy and cooked perfectly all the way through, no dry spots or anything. Really, if their cheap steaks were that good, I can't imagine how the $95 ones must taste. The side dishes were amazing, too. We got potatoes au gratin, which was mine and Dad's favorite. Also, the waiter recommended the mac and cheese, which was really good. I'm not sure what kinds of cheeses were in there, but I'm sure there were some good French cheeses in there somewhere. It was really good. AND, the steaks were humongous. The side dishes were very filling and very rich. It was just wonderful.

Of course, the highlight of the meal had to be the dessert. I wanted cherries jubilee. I mean, I've always loved cherries. I wanted a dessert with cherries. It took a while to set up, but the waiter came out with a cart that had a burner on it. He had all the ingredients set to the side in little dishes, that he added to the saute pan one at a time. First, it was butter, which he melted. Then, it was a little brown sugar. Then, he squeezed what looked like lemon juice into it. He drained the cherries, which had been marinating, and poured them in. There were 2 liquids that he poured into one container before adding to the pan. Then he stirred it and dipped the pan and it caught fire. It was a pretty big fire and very flashy. He calmly stirred it, which I'd have been afraid to do as I'd be afraid I'd burn myself. He said, "The bananas touch the ceiling. Scared me the first time I did it!". Well, those were pretty high ceilings, too. Can't imagine that. Then, he stirred it until the fire went out, then spooned it over a couple of small scoops of ice cream. He gave us 2 spoons so we could share. I mean, the ice cream itself was just plain vanilla, but was the best ice cream I've ever had. I mean, it blows everything else out of the water. No comparison at all. I could have had that all by itself. But with the cherries, it was just heavenly. Dad and I were there trying to spoon all the melted ice cream out of the bottom of the dish when we were done. All in all, it was the best meal I've ever had by far. I never imagined there could be food that good ever, even though I've had some pretty good food living here in San Antonio and also in my travels. I never knew what I was missing. Nothing can ever taste that good ever again I don't imagine. I can only hope I can go there again and try some of their other food as everything sounded fantastic. They even had "Valrhona chocolate cake". I'm sure I spelled that wrong, but I'd love to try it sometime. All in all, it was just a perfect evening. It was so relaxed as they served it all out in courses, so we could take our time. They were very friendly and not snooty at all. They made it very easy and fun to be there. The service was the best. I think every time I even took 2 sips of water it was refilled. All in all, it's a really great place to celebrate a special occasion as they do their best to make it as memorable as possible. I'd go again in a heartbeat.

A JOB!!!

I'm not getting paid yet. Of course, it's a small company and I was an intern. So I've got to be trained for the position, but that shouldn't take more than a couple of months, maybe less. But they offered me the position of intake coordinator, which means I'd be in charge of bringing in new talent. It also means, I'd be supervising a couple of interns. It shouldn't be anything I can't do as I've already done some of the work that the current intake coordinator delegated to me when I first started there. But she's mainly been wanting to do more marketing type stuff and hadn't been able to because she was having to do all the intake stuff. Now she'll be able to concentrate on what she really wanted to do and I'd get a permanent position. They also hired this other girl who I was really afraid of as she's really smart and she'd been there longer than me. But they offered her a different position. I think she's a very capable person, though, and I'm sure it's about time she was hired. Anyway, I'm so relieved to have a job offer and I can't wait to start getting paid. I'll start the training on Monday, so I have time to finish what I'm doing if I can. Plus, the training is only going to be a few hours every day and not all day. So I can still work on the Access stuff. However, I've already been given the okay to delegate some of my work to other interns, which I've done some of. It helps a lot, as I'd rather be training than what I'm doing now. I really don't mind it, but I don't want to do the same thing all day. I'm happier when there's more variety. So this will be good. My strategy at this point is to learn everything as fast as I can so that I can take over the position and start getting paid. : )

Hope I get a job soon...

Things are going well at the internship. So far, I've almost finished putting all the info on all of the talent into the computer. Plus, they've given me new duties here and there, and the boss keeps coming up with new projects for me. So I'm hoping that means I'm fairly valuable and they'll want to hire me. No formal offer yet, but I don't want to be pushy at all. I knew going in that this was an unpaid internship. But I can't help but be a little impatient once I heard they might hire me. Please, let it be soon. There might be some photography in it for me, but I don't have a camera, so I'll have to get one. But I don't want to get one if I can't make payments on it, you know? Need a paying job first before I can do anything like that. Hopefully that's some incentive for them, but we'll see. I didn't bring it up and didn't want to this early. Maybe when I've been there a little longer I can mention it and let them know I won't wait around forever. I think they're all well aware, anyway, that what I really want is a job and not just an internship. I don't think I need to say it every chance I get like Dad seems to want me to do. I don't want to ruin my chances by annoying them or pissing them off.

Got on Facebook recently, too. Don't know why, but I'd signed up for it a while back, but never really used it. But everyone else started using it and I guess I can see how it might be nice to keep in touch with people. I'm not 100% sure on how it's any better than e-mail, but hey. One thing is that my cousin in Georgia who I haven't talked to in ages added me to her friends list and I'm so glad to be in touch with her. I hope we can actually talk at some point, too.

Anyway, I guess I'd better get some sleep. Don't get off work until 7:30, but can't stay up too late anymore. Don't know why. Maybe it's just me getting older. Got a birthday coming up, too. I'm going to try to find a way to make it fun if I can. : )

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

No way does this ever happen to me! But I won something else in a sweepstakes. Not a little prize either. I usually win something worth about $10, although I've won some good ones here and there. This time, I won an iPod!!!! Kick-ass!! I'd been wanting one, but I figured it would be forever before I could actually afford one. AND it's really cool. It's the new iPod Touch, with the touch screen thing that's kind-of like an iPhone. Not the little 8GB one either. The 32GB one. Well, BIL C's is 60GB, I think, but it's the old one. Still, I'm so happy I won one. Finally, I'm not the only person in the world who doesn't have one, but one of the many who have one. R's getting an iPhone, so I don't have to feel bad for her. I mean, I'd get one if I could. It's cool. But no way could I afford it or the plan, so good for her that she can. I'll just have to take what I can get.

I'm working at this talent agency as an intern, but they hinted that they may want to offer me a permanent position. I just hope it's soon. I could SOOOO use the money right now. The gas alone is horrible. I filled up today. It was $50!!! That wasn't even a full tank of gas, either. I had a quarter of a tank left. And for those of you who don't know, I don't drive a big old SUV. It's just a sedan. And I thought it was a V6, but I was mistaken. Mine's the model just under the V6 model. It drives like a V6, though, in my opinion. But anyway. That's about a half hour of driving each way, no traffic. If there was traffic, it would probably take a little over an hour to get to work every day, but my day doesn't start until 10:30 and we don't get out until 7:30, so I miss the traffic. The missing traffic part is cool, but I don't get to go to as many meetups as I'd like since most of them start an hour before I'd get there and they'd end about an hour after I'd get there. So I don't want to drive half way across town for some thing that I'd only be there an hour for. I wish I could work out my hours to be a little earlier, but we'll see. At this point, if they'd just hire me, I'd be happy. I'm tired of working for free.

For now, I'm just transferring their Word files into Access to make them searchable. Hopefully I can come up with something else indispensable to them so that they'll want to keep me. I'm reading a book on Quickbooks, so maybe that will help. The only problem is that they're interviewing people who are applying for jobs (not the internships), and I'm afraid there will be someone more qualified than me that will come along and take my place. Wish me luck!

You can't have everything...

At this point, I'll take what I can get. Surprisingly, I had an interview for an internship at a talent agency here in town, and they hired me on the spot. The bad part is that it isn't paid. : ( Really, I wouldn't have expected it, but I can only hope they love me and want to hire me on permanently. I start on Monday. So, the good part is that someone wants me to work for them. At least going into this one I'm not being lied to about pay.

Dad bought a new car on Monday. So far, he loves it. It had keyless entry, which is a feature he never thought he needed. He's come to think, "How did I ever get by without it?" Not to mention that it will go almost 100,000 miles before it's first tuneup, and the timing chain is supposed to last the life of the car and never needs replacing. Cool. Low maintenance. Good for him. He loves it. The only thing is that the cigarette lighter outlet thingie is too far back for his taste. He wants it up near the dash like mine. Again, no car would be absolutely perfect, but he's not complaining. So far, it's not like things have been perfect and it's rare when something goes exactly like you wanted. That's just life, you know?

Then, we were looking into the price of synthetic oil (I mean, reduce our oil consumption as much as possible, and it's supposed to be better for the car--he's wanting his to last as long as it possibly can). It really isn't that much more if we get the Walmart brand. So Dad was happy about that. AND he'd bought oil filters for his old car that he didn't end up using. So he was thinking he'd trade them at the store for the ones for the new car. Turns out, the new car uses the same oil filter! Another thing Dad was happy about. He changes his own oil, of course. Then, we looked into the price of an oil change with synthetic oil there at Walmart for my car. It's $50!!! The lady was saying it was because of the oil, but really the price difference in the oil is only about $5 for 5 quarts. At most, that should make the oil change at Walmart about $25. But they also check your fluids, too. Like really, that costs $25 more dollars to look under the hood and check the translucent containers to see if they're full. I could do that myself. So Dad thinks they're ripping us off and said he'd change my oil for me. Really, I'd do it myself if they'd let me at our apartment complex. Oh well.

So, today I also got a book about MS Office. I need to brush up on my Excel skills. I can't say how many tutorials I've taken on the program, and it never sticks in my head. I just have a hard time remembering formulas and stuff. Hopefully I won't need to do anything really complicated at work. I think I can handle Word okay, but it never hurts to learn more. I want to make a good impression at work, you know? Want them to think I'm indispensable. I can't imagine myself ever being indispensable, but I can try. Maybe my winning personality? Something? Personally, I think that if anyone gets to know me well enough they'd hate me, but I'm insecure. I just compliment them a lot. Maybe that'll work. : )

Everyone is pissed at me

Everyone. Maybe not you, but it seems as though it's everyone. I'm sure I can do something to piss you off, too, while I'm at it. I'm not doing it on purpose. It just seems things aren't going right lately and everything I do isn't good enough for someone. So, right now, I should explain why my boss is mad at me, because really, she should know better.

She has yet to pay me. I started working for her back in March. Yes, March. I still haven't received a paycheck. RE thought this was outrageous and looked up state law regarding pay, and as it turns out, she is breaking the law. According to the Texas Workforce Commission website, an employer is required to pay an employee within a month or less. PLUS, FEDERAL law requires that an employer specify a regular pay period when hiring an employee. She never did that. So, naturally I wrote an e-mail to my boss, notifying her of these facts, and stating that I didn't want her to get in trouble and I still wanted to work with her. Well, she's being really nasty to me now, when before she'd loved me and trusted me with anything. She never had a problem with my work before. Now, she says I've misrepresented myself as a web designer. Truthfully, I NEVER told her I was a web designer. When she hired me and asked me to update a website, I told her I'd never designed a website before and I asked her to give me something easy. She gave me two sites that were already messed up and I wasn't able to fix them as I don't know enough about web design. She just gave me print stuff after that and she was fine. She said I'd learn about web design as she had another designer that would work from the office when she got the office fixed up. But now, she's pissed about the web design, and I reminded her that I'd never said I was a web designer. She said it was on my resume. No it wasn't. My resume lists the classes I took on the software, but I have no experience as a web designer and never even took classes in web design. I took a class in Dreamweaver, but that's not the same thing as knowing web design. I mean, I TOLD her I'd never designed a website! She only hears what she wants to hear, apparently. She is sort-of flighty, disorganized, and misinformed. I mean, she said she had lawyers that worked with her on contracts. Like she wants me to sign a confidentiality agreement now. She also said she has a contract that her employees sign (this is the first I've heard of any such thing) that states they get paid when a job is finished. Well, she never said that. She said I was hourly, not contract. I mean, doesn't a contract, even a verbal one, have to be clear to both parties to be valid? If I was an hourly employee, as she told me, I would expect regular paychecks based on the hours I'd worked. She never laid conditions down, like I had to finish a web site first, or anything. Besides, I have done stuff for her and I continually asked her to give me more work, but she doesn't. Still, she has to pay me for answering phones, cleaning her office, etc. I'm not a volunteer.

Ugh. I don't want to have anything to do with her anymore. I just want my paycheck and I'll be on my way. Not that there are lots of other jobs out there. There are hardly any. But I'm hoping something will come along. I can't be unemployed forever, can I? I doubt I can hope to marry some rich guy. Besides, I doubt I'd be happy if I wasn't doing something at least somewhat worthwhile.

Anyway, I did go to the atheist meetup a few days ago. It was Thursday night, actually. I got to sit by J, who is a cute reporter for a local TV network. Firstly, he came in late as he had to work, but he ended up sitting at another table as they were all full. But, as people left for the night, he made a point to come over and sit by me. I thought that was really sweet, but of course, I tried to make myself as attractive as possible, since I knew he'd be there. I wore a low-cut dress. I put my hair up to show off my tattoo on my upper back. I wore my cute "new" sandals. I did my makeup to show off my eyes. I mean, I did my best. So we did talk, although he had to get up early in the morning and didn't stay very long. : ( I wish he'd asked me out, but again, it's only the second time we've ever met. Maybe he'll come to the next meetup and I can talk to him again. The next one is at Ruta Maya Coffee. Hope he can make it to that one. I hope I didn't piss him off as I have everyone else. But, in my boss' case, aren't I the one that should be pissed? That's what I think.

Well, that's it for now. Despite my post, I'm actually in a relatively good mood today, so don't judge my mood based on what I post. O-keee?

GO SPURS GO!!!

They're up 3 games to 1. Mad they lost the 1 as they could have swept the series, but they must have not wanted it bad enough that afternoon. But, I'm sure they'll win the 1st round. I doubt Phoenix can win 3 more in a row. Spurs only have to win 1 more, after all. I like the playoffs and I also hate them. Nerve-wracking, but they're exciting games to watch. Hope they do well. I think the next game is tonight, so we'll see how they do.

Today, I've got a doctor's appointment. It's mainly because it's time to have a thyroid test, but I've been having other problems as well. I've been having these gastrointestinal problems for a long time. Like maybe a year and a half or so. It started out as just periodic nausea. Then, the nausea became acute and I began throwing up. It would be so bad I'd need a prescription medication to stop it. It's progressed now to where I also have diarrhea in addition to the nausea. Again, it's periodic, so I'll be fine for a while, then suddenly it'll hit me and knock me out for a couple of days. Then, I'm okay again. It's really annoying and it's impacting my life as it can be so severe, so I'm hoping there's something he can do about it. The other thing is that I don't think I'm doing as well on Synthroid as I was on Levoxyl. I have drier skin, etc., etc., all the hypothyroid symptoms, even though my hormone levels have been testing normal. Plus, I've been having fainting spells. It feels like it does when my blood pressure drops suddenly, so I'm thinking I keep having unsafe low blood pressure that causes me to become light-headed and then faint. Not good. I don't know if that's related to the thyroid thing or not, so I've got to tell the doctor about it.

Not much going on lately besides that. I have a psychiatrist appointment next week, where I will discuss those sorts of issues such as my stress level and how absent-minded I've been. Don't know if the nausea might relate to my meds or not, but it seems like it's not related as I haven't had any med changes in a very long time, like much more than a year and a half ago. So the timing is off there for me to think it's related. But I can mention it if my other doctor can't find anything else wrong with me. Or maybe that appointment is at the end of this week. Now I can't remember. I have it written down on my calendar. I just haven't looked at it recently. I need to check before I go off anywhere today.

Got to go to the library today, too. The two books I'd requested are there waiting and I thought I'd look for this other book that I read about. I think they have it there, so I'll just see if it's not checked out. Been reading a lot since there aren't that many jobs out there to sift through. It doesn't take me as long as it used to to get through them all. Sucks, but what can I do? Just keep looking. Well, I guess I'd better go. Sorry my posts have been relatively depressing lately. Hopefully that'll change after my psychiatrist appointment, though. Hopefully I'll be more optimistic.

DUH!

Didn't doubt it for a minute, but the guy was telling me the check would clear. I didn't think so, but he kept saying it would, and even gave me his contact information so that I could return the "money". Yeah, right. So, I didn't expect to have to wire him the money or mail him a money order or whatever. But today, it's official. The check did not clear. I called the bank to double-check. So now I'm in a negative balance on my bank account. I did get the camera, so I can return that now and get the money back. I hate to do it, but I'll have to make some sort of arrangement later. My mom had a plan, so I'll go along with whatever she suggested. I'll get the camera eventually. Hopefully the jobs will follow. But hopefully the money will get credited to my account before the bank has to close the account.

The other "duh" thing is that I had gotten a couple of interviews and I went to Walmart today to pick up some thank you cards so that I could send some out as I'd run out of the old ones. I write them out today and I stick them in the outgoing slot in our mail center. Suddenly, it strikes me that I didn't stamp them. DUH! I'd meant to take them to the post office as I ran out of stamps. Stupid. Obviously, this hasn't been my smartest month. Hopefully things will get better, but I feel pretty stupid lately. Maybe it's my medication or something. I don't know. So, now I have to wait for the cards to come back to me so that I can send them out again, STAMPED this time.

Other than that, not much going on, just the interviews. Not many, just a couple. Still, that's better than nothing. Maybe the cards will matter, but maybe not. You never know. It would look worse to NOT send them, I think. Maybe there's a new job in my future. PLEASE...

My boss took it better than I expected when I told her I was job hunting. In fact, she understood completely and offered to give me a reference. So sweet. If only she'll pay me the money she owes me, though. I think she said beginning of May, but that's a long time to wait when I'm hourly. It's been 5 weeks! That shouldn't happen. Anyway, that's it for now. Almost time to go home. : )

I'm an idiot

Okay, I always prided myself as being a relatively smart person. Apparently I'm only good at pointing out when others are making mistakes. Perhaps I'm only good at things that involve studying and books, etc. I don't know. But I received a check in the mail with no note or anything in it. My natural thought is that it must be a sweepstakes win, as that happens sometimes. When you win, you just get the prize in the mail with no notice or anything. So I deposit the check, wait for the bank to tell me the balance is available, and then I buy a camera as that's what I really needed in order to help me find a job. Well, as it turns out, while my balance said "pending", it wasn't because the bank was checking to see if there were funds in the other bank account or if the check was bogus. I don't know what they were doing exactly. But they tend to make the balance available right away as a courtesy to members. Then, a couple of days later, I get an e-mail and a phone call from this guy who had been trying to set up a photography job with me and he says HE sent the check. Well, I wasn't going to take the job because he seemed kind-of shady to me. There were things about the whole thing that I didn't like. But then, I'd already used the money. Great. So I have to wait for the check to clear now, so that I can return the money to the guy (if it isn't a scam in the first place). I also have to return the camera so that I can get that part of the money back. Of course, I have to wait until I GET the camera as I'd bought it on Amazon and it's not here yet. Great. Just what I needed. More stress. I mean, if I'd known the check was from that guy (I mean it, no note, no return address, nothing in the envelope) I would have sent it right back to him immediately. I wouldn't have even deposited it or anything. Maybe I should have been a little more suspicious of the check, but money's been tight as I hadn't gotten paid yet (still haven't) and I was desperate for cash. I was also hoping to visit R, C, and little E in LA. But, I guess that's not going to happen after all. Anyway, I guess I just needed to gripe.

Tonight I'm meeting RE for coffee. He's also having a little fondue get-together on Sunday that he wanted me to come to. But he told me I could bring a date, so I guess that means he only thinks of me as a friend. I guess I wasn't sure, but it's good to know where I stand. Maybe it could still turn into something more, but at least he's not in any rush and neither am I at this point. Right now I just want to get a steady job (that will actually pay me) before I start worrying about anything else. I had an interview today at the McNay Art Museum here. It's far, as it took me 50 minutes to get there and traffic wasn't really that bad. The job is only part-time and the hours would be weird, but at least I could get paid there. It's in the gift shop as a retail sales assistant, so nothing fancy. The problem with it is that it doesn't start until June as the museum is closed right now for renovations. So I still have time to find something full-time before then.

Anyway, I guess I'll go for now. It's almost time for coffee, so I can decide what tasty Starbucks treat I should go for today. : )

Maybe I should avoid Mi Tierra

I had a good time at lunch. I wish it was a little cheaper to eat there, but at least it's good. Everyone liked it and we all talked and enjoyed ourselves. Then, everyone wanted to go shopping afterward. Well, I thought it might be fun just to go with them and not buy anything. We wandered around and the group organizer took pictures. It was fun. Of course, after a while everyone was tired. In the last store I ended up buying a pendant. I really shouldn't have as I didn't really have the money, but it was this neat-o Mayan design, kind-of like a calendar. That was, incidentally, the only thing I bought. But I really shouldn't have done that. Then, everyone left except for RE, who I'd been seeing, although we haven't seen much of each other in a while. But we went back to Mi Tierra so that I could pick up some sweetbread, but they didn't have much of the Mexican stuff. Mostly donuts and the like. I was disappointed. So I didn't end up getting anything there, which was probably a good thing.

RE and I went walking around a little. We saw this little coffee house across the street, but we really weren't thinking about it being Sunday and the place was closed. So we kept walking and ended up by the Spanish Governor's Palace. I didn't realize it was that close to Market Square, so we decided to go in as the place is fairly small. It didn't take long, so we went back to Market Square and looked around at El Mercado (another building separate from the place we were that was across the street where the parking was. Anyway, after a while we got some bottled coffee and water and went to the park across that street to sit down. It was a nice little park and it was a nice day. Not too hot. We sat and talked some more and even did a little snuggling. Hope that wasn't too obnoxious, but we weren't being noisy, just hugging. After that, RE had to go as he had a bowling league game he had to go to. It was after 5:00 by then, though, so I didn't feel too bad. It was fun.

Today, I'm waiting to hear from my doctor about some Geodon samples as I can't afford to buy the prescription. But they'd been out when I called last week. I'm hoping they have some as I'm out and I don't want to get all confused and absent-minded again. Also, my boss hasn't called me and she had her phone off when I called her. I left a message on her voice mail, but I'd already done that last week and she never returned my call. So I hope she's okay. I'm hoping she calls me back, too.

Anyway, I could spend my day cleaning the bathroom, but I hurt my hand and I can't imagine scrubbing the bathtub with it hurting as bad as it's been. It hurts to type, too. Well, maybe I'll scrub the toilet and wipe down the sink again. The bathtub will have to wait, I think, as that's the one that will take the most effort. Hopefully it won't be too much longer that I have to worry about my hand, though, as it looks terrible and I want it CLEAN. Plus, I'm going to keep going through job listings. Hopefully I'll find something more stable, full-time, with benefits. : )

Yesterday

Dad and I went to our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant for lunch, El Chapparal in Helotes. I had some yummy carne guisada (it's stew, not beef tips with gravy on them). It was awesome. Dad had some things to do later on, like empty all the fax machine parts out of his car so he could take it in to get it repaired today. The brakes are causing him trouble, among other things. So we had to cut our day short, but we managed to do a little shopping at Walmart (not really fun, but we got everything we needed fairly quickly). But we did take some time at Starbucks after that. I remembered to bring my Starbucks cup so that I could get the discount. Then, it was HEB, where I used a few coupons. Really, a fairly short day, but we had a good time. I think Dad was disappointed that he didn't get to buy a new car just yet. I think he was thinking that I'd make enough money to pay my car payment, but that's not happening at present. I haven't even gotten paid and I've been there for 3 weeks already. Plus, that day I was supposed to go in at 2:30, she called and said she didn't need me to come in after all. So I only worked 7 hours last week. Sucks. So, if I ever do get paid, it won't be very much.

Today, I have a coffee meetup at Mi Tierra, the place I went with R and E at Market Square. Should be fun. : ) I'd better get ready to go, actually!

Bored

You'd think that having a job would keep me busy. But no. I don't have anything to do. I'm bored out of my mind. Yesterday I got stuff to do, but she didn't give me anything additional, so I've been just piddling all morning and part of the afternoon. She doesn't want me going in until 2:30. I asked her to give me some things to work on this morning and e-mail the files to me, but she didn't. She said she would, but she didn't. This isn't the first time I've asked her to do this, either. I've asked her on several occasions. Not to mention, that when I go into the office I don't have anything to do there either. I have no reason to go in, but she wants me there. It's HOT in there, too. The a/c sucks and on top of that she leaves the window open. It's 86 or so out there. Not really letting cool air in by having the window open, you know? I wish I could find another job where I'd get more hours. I really need the money and not having anything to do isn't helping me at all. I'm still looking for a job, but there aren't many out there. Most of them, like about 80%, are all medical jobs. Sucks, but that's the way it goes. Even worse, I was cleaning out some paperwork in my boss' office yesterday and I was finding records from '05 and '06 and there were bills in there. Several of them kept popping up saying "past due" and other similar phrases. I just get the picture she's not very organized and she's the type of person I need to bug over and over again to get her to do anything. I mean, I can't even get her to give me work! Not a good sign. It's so frustrating!

Pictures from R & E's last visit

Meant to include these last time. The first one is E in Market Square.


Then we took the "trolley" (actually a bus) to the Alamo.


Then, we rode the river barges at the Riverwalk.


And R snapped this photo of me when I was talking and E wasn't ready:

Recently...

Recently, I discovered I suck at web design. I apparently effed up an important client's website and someone has to clean up my mess. I feel so stupid. I have no clue what I did wrong either. But for some reason, when I downloaded the files, something got effed up and I was the only one logged into the server at the time. So it must have been me. All I was supposed to do was change the phone number on the website, but it was in a Flash format that wasn't compatible with my trial version, so I couldn't do it. Okay, right? No harm done. But the guy has tons of extra files in there that shouldn't be in there, including an old version of the site's homepage. Now THAT'S what's loading instead of the newer Flash site. Uggh. Every time I try to mess with this guy's files, something goes wrong. I think the guy isn't a very good designer in some ways, in that he stores EVERYTHING in the folders on the server instead of just the files needed for the site and he doesn't give the files descriptive names, just things like menu08 or menu02. So it's confusing as hell. But he can do things with Flash that I don't know how to do, so he's going to have to fix it.

The one thing I was able to do was to update the sign that goes out in front of the building as she wanted some changes done to the file that another guy had designed. That I was able to do. So my next project is to update the prices on a menu. Should be simple enough if I have the files. But this other guy has the files and has to e-mail them to me. We'll see when that happens. Most of the time, when I go to the office, I'm sitting there chatting with my boss and reading e-mail as I have nothing to do. Hopefully that will change. I've been bored. But, hey, if she'll pay me to just sit there, that's fine with me. I just don't want to be seen as expendable, you know? So I keep reminding her that I'm willing and able to do other things than what she hired me to do. Hopefully she'll find me some more work next week.

Also, as recently as last week, R and E were here. It wasn't a long visit, unfortunately, but we did manage to go downtown and visit Market Square (El Mercado), Mi Tierra, the Alamo, and the Riverwalk with little E. We wanted him to see the famous parts of the city and remember it fondly. So now, when he sees a picture of the Alamo, he'll know he's been there. Actually, he was pointing it out every time he saw it in this magazine I have! I was worried about all the stairs, but he went up and down like crazy and didn't slow us down a bit. Of course, when he got back to the apartment, he went back to his usual cautious self, but hopefully he's getting braver. He did have his first ride in a bus (the trolley, but they had regular buses running the trolley route downtown for some reason), which he loved. He had the biggest grin on his face every time the bus lurched or went over a bump. One time he even let out a little laugh. He loved the river barges, too. We saw a lot of the historical buildings and even some baby ducks.

Market Square was first, where we spent most of our money, actually. R and I got some jewelry from this little place that got items from Peru. I also got some hairclips from Mexico (inlaid with silver). E got a tambourine and a little mini-guitar that wasn't really a toy but a real guitar, only smaller. I think he's looking forward to learning to play it from his dad. Then, we ate lunch/dinner at Mi Tierra and picked up some Mexican sweetbread for later. Yum! All in all, a really fun day. I wouldn't have minded going back down there another time, but I got sick. Like, what else is new, you know? But I didn't want R and E to go and cried when they left. I was hoping I'd get to go up to FW, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen and they can't come back down here, so I guess that was it, until I can make it to LA. : ( I was hoping we'd be able to see La Villita or some other places around town, but we didn't have time. Oh well. I'm sure they'll be able to come back to visit.

Last night, I had a good time at a meetup for atheists. Some really good conversation there. The food was okay, not great. But the restaurant had a lot of different items on the menu than you usually see in Chinese restaurants. The portions were okay. Really, it was expensive for what you got, but it was pretty in there and the service was good. I met some really nice people, including a guy who was a reporter for Telemundo. He was really hot, too, but I don't think he was nearly as interested in me as I was in him! : (

Anyway, that's the update for now. I keep saying I'm going to keep up with this space, but then I don't do it, so I won't even promise that for now. Keep in touch peeps! : )

WTF???

Okay, that woman called me the night before last and after I had told her to call. By then, I'd written her off, especially as she seemed to have blown me off when I went to her office. Well, she said something that sounded like, "you're one of the ones I hired," but her phone was cutting out as it sounded like she was on her cell. So I wasn't sure I heard her right, you know? So I'm trying to listen through the gaps and static to hear the rest of what she's saying to try to get it from context. And first of all, I have no idea why this woman called me out of the blue to ask me to interview with her. I have NO experience in web design. I have never designed a website before. Well, there was this silly college thing that I did with free downloaded software, but that was a long time ago and it wasn't very good. So, using regular stuff, I haven't done it. I don't even have Dreamweaver. I'd like to, but I don't. But even when I took the Dreamweaver class, we didn't design a site from scratch. We worked from material that was already given to us. So I wouldn't know the first thing about it. But she called me because she'd seen my resume on the SAC job board. On top of that, without even really interviewing me, she hired me. Really. I'm not joking. I can't tell you how shocked I am. I'm SOOOOO not qualified for this job. I'll do my best, and I'll try to learn what I don't know, but the first job she's given me is a toughie. It should be simple. I'm just updating her website. See, just altering something that's already there, right? Wrong.

First, she doesn't have the original files for the site. The only version of the site is what's on the internet. The links don't work. So I had to get the main portion of her site from a link from another website that she designed. I guess I was just using it as a guide, because I couldn't connect to her site to download the files from there. It took forever. I finally got an FTP software that worked and connected and I downloaded the files. Problem solved, right? Wrong. There are TONS of extra files. It took an HOUR to download all of it. There's no way it should have taken that long or that much space. There must be about 40 or 50 folders that have nothing in them. A lot of files are just gibberish (not even HTML code--I know what that looks like). Some of them are from old versions of the website. Well, when you update a website, you're supposed to download the old files and upload the new files. You don't keep all of it on the server at the same time. PLUS, he even has files there that are from completely different websites, like not even her website at all. And all of it is there in her file. The stuff that IS from her website is all published and therefore, there aren't layers, so I can't alter what's already there. Maybe if I knew HTML I could, but GoLive won't let me alter it at all. This would have been SOOOO much easier with the original files, I can't even tell you. Not an easy project for me as my first one. And I told her to please give me easy stuff to start me out. Yeah, thanks.

So, I don't know where to start. I might have to just build it all from scratch and start all over. I'll have to prepare her for that, of course, as she liked that site and just wanted me to correct the errors the other guy left. I just don't know what to do. I wish she'd give it to the more experienced guy and let me do something else. But for some reason she trusts me to do it and she thinks I won't let her down. I'm terrified I will. I mean, I'm glad to have a job, at last, and I'm relieved, but at the same time, I feel like I can't do it and I'll end up looking again anyway. I just feel like I shouldn't get too excited about it in case it doesn't work out. It's starting out as part-time and at $10.00 an hour, but after her website gets updated (????) it could turn to full-time. I'm also hoping I'll do a good job (or else prove myself indispensable in other ways) so that I can angle for a raise down the line. I really don't want to lose this job!

Absentee blogger

Sorry I've been gone a while. First, I was just bummed from the job hunt. Plus, N moved to Austin. I just didn't feel good about it. AND R, C, and E are moving to LA. So, as soon as C headed off for LA, R came down here with E to spend some time in San Antonio, the city R and I were raised in. So, there were the obvious benefits of coming to a tourist city, but also, all her family is here and the food is much better than in FW. We had a blast touring sites around town and trying new food. Unfortunately, I discovered I love gelato! We also discovered this crepe place near my apartment. Sounds like French food, right? No. It's actually a Japanese place, but they serve crepes. Odd, but it's good and it's cheap. They even have frequent customer cards.

Then, R had to go back to FW and I rode with her. Not nearly as much to do up there. Really, it was pretty boring except for the company. Then, we were back in San Antonio again, having a good time until we were just worn out. I think there was no way we were getting enough sleep. I mean, we were staying up horribly late and then trying to sleep, but not succeeding with a little 4 year old talking right there. Well, R and E were trying to sleep on the floor, but Mom bought an air bed for them. But I could easily hear E's "whispering," which is basically a funny version of his usual loud toddler voice, in the next room even though my door was closed and I had the stereo on. Would be nice if kids came with a volume knob or something!

But R eventually had to go back up to FW. She had stuff to do on the house before closing. They accepted an offer on the house, but they had a really nitpicky inspector. What luck.

So I keep hoping they'll come back down before they leave for LA now that I've caught up on my sleep. However, I'm sure R isn't sleeping as well as I did now that things are quiet. Surely, it isn't as quiet in her household. But I am going out with a guy that I'll call RE. I don't know if it's really a romantic relationship or if we're just friends, but I'm fine with friends for now. I really can't feel really anxious to date again so soon after N, whom I never officially broke up with. It's just hard to see someone when they're in another city. RE seems nice as we met through Meetup.com also, and he's not pressuring me to do anything at all. In fact, hasn't brought anything I'm uncomfortable with up at all. We haven't even held hands, so it's a good slow speed, like I like. He also reminds me of N in some ways as he's interested in similar things, but doesn't have the aversion to fried food that N had. N was also somewhat of a vegetarian (most of the time), whereas RE eats meat, as do I. I guess I don't feel like I'm always trying to be as good as he is or something. That's not to say that N said I shouldn't eat meat or anything. He never did. Maybe it's just my own low self-esteem or something. But at least I've attracted some people and I've been dating, something I really haven't done much of. So that helps my ego a little bit. Plus, going to the meetups and meeting new people all the time helps my confidence level improve as well.

I had a "job interview" today and I wasn't even nervous at all. The thing that was most stressful was driving there, because there were TWO car accidents along my route and my map was wrong. Add on top of that the fact that the woman didn't give me directions to her office, so I'm out there going around and around the building looking for a suite 13 that you can only get to by going in one of the UNMARKED doors and going upstairs. Well, I had no clue there was even an upstairs as it wasn't clear from outside. There were only suites 1-6 and no signs or anything about anything else. I had to get help from someone in another office. Even that person didn't know exactly where suite 13 was, but helped me find the stairs (not as easy as it sounds--I'm not a complete moron, you know. I know what stairs look like, but these were hidden). Then, as if it wasn't already a mess (and I'm still not stressing out or getting butterflies at this point), I'm late and she's talking to someone else when I get there and is just basically chatting with this guy who's work she's oohing and aahing over, while she makes me fill out a job application. Then, she finally sees I'm done and comes over only to tell me she'll call me later. Yeah, that'll happen. I already know she's hiring the dude that she was chatting with, who's work she absolutely loved. Even worse, she kept slipping into Spanish talking to him, which seems a somewhat rude way to keep me from knowing what they were talking about. But, the office was a dump and there were only 2 workstations, and she's got one and someone else has the other. Don't know where I'd have been working as the office was only about the size of my itty bitty bedroom. I need a job, but I guess I don't have to feel too bad about not getting that one. Still, I'd have beared it if she gave me a chance. Even if she didn't seem like the smartest person in the world.

Oh well. But I'm trying not to lose hope. I will find a job eventually. Going to the meetups helps, as I'm networking. Last time I went out with RE, he had a couple of people from Meetup him and one of them was in HR and willing to help me. She just got laid off, though, so I feel bad for her as I know how companies are downsizing and it's hard to find a job right now. I keep hearing more and more people I know getting laid off. Scary. So, I'll look out for her and she's going to help me, too. The friend who was going to help me with my website and blog (other blog, not this one) to attract potential employers has been sick, so I haven't seen her. But I gather she's feeling better, so I may see her soon. Hope so.

Anyway, I've been busy, some of it good, some of it bad. Mostly good, though. I'll try to keep up with this better for the few people who still come back. I really appreciate the readers I have and the comments they leave. Thank you, thank you. I'll try to be a better blogger.

My lucky day!

Okay, I didn't get hired on the spot. But I had testing in Austin yesterday. Already I was worried because I didn't know how long it would take to find the place as it is Austin and you can never get a good map of the city. Plus, there's traffic. So I stopped at Starbucks on the way out of town to get my caffeine fix. Didn't want to be falling asleep at the wheel. Then, I leave. Traffic leaving San Antonio wasn't too bad. But I left late and I'm worried I won't be able to find the place or I'll hit traffic and be late. Don't want to make a bad impression by showing up late, you know?

But traffic in Austin wasn't too bad. I had to go to north Austin, so I went through a good deal of it, too. Then, on top of that, the map was actually right. It took me right there! I was dumbfounded at that, as I think that's the only time that's ever happened to me. But I made it on time, about 5 minutes early. Plenty of time to fill out the job application. I actually had more than enough time, as they were waiting for this other guy to fill his out and take him for testing first, as his test was different than mine and these other two women. He took FOREVER to fill it out. I don't know why, but he was just being so deliberate and thinking a long time to fill out every question. I mean, I already knew the answers; it didn't take me long at all. But he would stop to rearrange something like 5 pages he had laid out every time he answered one. And he wrote really slow. The other women and I were pretty antsy by then as he even took a long time to put his papers in order to turn them in to the receptionist. He must have rearranged them like 5 times, and he kept straightening them over and over again. I wanted to go over there and take them from him and turn them in myself. Maybe he had OCD or something. It seemed like it. But the testing wasn't hard at all. I hope I did well. I think I was pretty slow for some reason as this other girl did hers really fast, although she didn't fill in the little bubbles on her answer sheet. She just put a slash through them. Personally, I didn't think it took that long to fill in the bubbles, but hey. What do I know?

But I managed to leave Austin by about 3:30 or almost 4:00. But there was traffic heading back to San Antonio as there always is. By then, the traffic is just as bad heading up north, too, though. I had to stop and get something to eat, as much as I hated to do that. There wasn't anything healthy, so I just got Whataburger. I was feeling really weak by that point, like my blood sugar just dropped dramatically really fast. Then, on the drive back, I got this text message saying $10.00 had been posted to my phone account. (?!!!)All I know is that I did not put the $10.00 on there myself. When does it ever happen that people just give you money for no reason, you know? Then, when I got home, I found me a lucky penny right on the ground. Even after the Whataburger, I still had enough Flex Points to have dinner and even a couple of pieces of chocolate, with a few points left over. I was just in a really good mood.

Today R and little E are coming into town to visit. Hope we can find enough things to do that don't cost money. But we should have a good time. If nothing else, we'll have coffee. : )

Last Hiking Meetup

It was at O.P. Schabel park, which is one we go to all the time in my family. I thought I knew the park pretty well, but we didn't go on the trails I knew. Anyway, I got there a little early because I didn't want them to leave without me. I brought Bucky, as he seemed to like it the last time I took him to that park. Other people brought their dogs, too, and Bucky wanted to bark at them, of course. I picked him up, and he got quieter. So I just held him until we were ready to leave. As it turns out, I was the only one who brought a small dog. All the others were golden retrievers or bigger, so he was really out of place! A few people were worried he wouldn't make it or that I'd end up carrying him part of the way. But really, they don't know him like I do!

We took off walking, and it was a nice day. It was warm and a few people wore shorts even. Yes, even in January. There was someone who said, "It feels like summer!" and I just wanted to laugh as there's no way it would be that cool in summer. It was only about 73 F at the warmest. But a lot of people in the meetups are new to San Antonio, so I didn't want to make them feel bad or scare them off before summer really hit. Anyway, so we walked about an hour and a half in one direction, until we reached the road down at the far end after you go down into the ravine. It seemed to take forever. I was stupid and forgot to bring water, so I was dying of thirst by that point. Someone was nice and let Bucky have a sip of the water she brought for her dog. That seemed to perk him up a bit. His ears were sort of drooping a little by that point. But then we had to walk back the other way. So it was another hour and a half back. My legs were a little tired, but the thing I noticed most was that my knees started killing me. Really, I didn't think to wear a brace on my bad knee. Not very smart of me. People were marveling by that point that Bucky was doing so well. Really we took a short breather to let some people catch up who'd fallen behind going up a hill. He was jumping up on me and wagging his tail. He was absolutely fine. One guy even made a comment, "he's making me look bad." Well, they shouldn't have assumed he was weak just because he was small, should they? When we got to the parking lot at the end, a lot of people were relieved. And I wanted to go straight home for a tall glass of water or two. Bucky was looking at me excitedly, like "What are we gonna do now?"

Some of the people there were going to this bar afterwards, but I couldn't as I had my dog with me. So I just went home. Bucky wanted to be walked immediately, but I wanted to go straight upstairs. My knees were so sore I could hardly move them. Then, I got upstairs and had a full glass of water. Bucky saw Snoopy getting walked and got upset at me because I wouldn't take him, too. Goofball. Like he hadn't been outside for 3 hours already. I stretched as much as possible, although my joints still hurt later that night. By morning they were fine, but I think I'll wear a brace next time. Don't let me forget. : )

Anyway, not much going on. N is still in Austin and I haven't heard from him. He said he might be able to come down this coming weekend, but we'll see. Again, I haven't heard from him. I haven't gotten any more job interviews and I'm obviously still not employed, or that would have been the first thing I wrote about. But a couple of people in the coffee meetup had some tips for me, so I'm looking forward to the next one of those. : )

First Hiking Meetup

This was the first one I attended anyway. It was a moonlight hike, which I'd never done before. We were all to bring flashlights, although there was a 90% full moon. Clear sky. Kinda cold, but really, it was warmer than the night before, and anyway this is San Antonio. Not exactly known for having real freezes in the wintertime. So we all bundled up and were fine. It was this park called Walker Ranch that I'd never been to before. We all met up in the parking lot of Incredible Pizza to carpool, as we'd been told there wasn't enough parking for everyone. There were supposed to be about 50 or 60 people. So a bunch of us crammed into a truck and I think there was another truck or two with us. When we got there, there were a couple of other vehicles there, but that was it. So as it turned out only about 16 people showed up! So there was plenty of parking after all. Still, we waited for a while, then decided to head out. There were a few trails, and we took one that would probably have some wildlife for us to see. A few deer, who didn't seem to be very afraid of us. They just kind of stared at us, like "What are you doing here so late?" or something. We kept following the trail and headed up on top of the dam, then, came down the side, where we ran into a barbed wire fence. We went through the fence for some reason, and kept going as there seemed to be a trail still. Ended up going through another fence. Kept following the trail. Then came to a sign that said "No Trespassing". Well, we were confused by that as we'd stayed on the trail. But then the other side of the fence said it was the park, so I guess we'd been trespassing before, so we crossed back into the park (?). Someone joked "Who said this wouldn't be a wild night?" in comment for our trespassing earlier. We were all pretty goofy by that point. We saw more deer and some thing that I thought looked like a cat, but someone else said looked like a squirrel (I thought it was too big to be a squirrel, though). Then, since we'd had a good time, we decided to head over to the Lion and Rose pub as the organizers had a room reserved for us. That sounded nice, so we all headed over there. When we got there the room wasn't ready as there were people in there that wouldn't leave. The staff were trying to persuade them, but they were really stubborn and were arguing, etc. It ended up being a half hour past our reservation before we were let in. And it wasn't even a room after all, but an "area". A bit of a let-down. Then we waited there for about 45 minutes for them to come take our drink order. Some people hadn't had a chance to eat before the hike and were hungry, but the staff wouldn't take food orders until later. That made some of us pretty mad. Then, we waited nearly an hour for the drinks to come. No explanation or apology or anything. Some people left. One guy complained, but got a story about the bartender being taken away by EMS. Well, if we'd known that we would have been a little more patient, but they didn't tell us anything. Then, waited another 30 minutes or so for them to come take food orders. It took so long to get the food orders, that some people were getting ready to leave right as the food arrived. By then, it was midnight, so I just ate a little and took the rest home. Really, it was disappointing. But that particular pub has more than one location, and someone said the other locations were better staffed. So maybe we'll go to a different one. Everyone said the food was good, though. I just got a dessert, but I'll admit it was good. I'd just rather go somewhere else, maybe the one off 1604 next time.

Anyway the next meetup is at O.P. Schnabel, which is a park we go to all the time in my family as it's nearby. It will be a daytime hike. They want to go to Hill's and Dale's afterward, which is not really my style. It's a place right by the UTSA campus, so everyone went there all the time, but it looked kinda like a biker bar, so I never wanted to go there. I still don't.

N got laid off from his job, so I'm hoping he finds something soon and something in SA. He's afraid he may have to move, as he hasn't found many jobs here and the ones he's been interviewed for are out of town. So I'm pretty bummed about that. But hopefully he'll be here long enough to go on the hike with me and we can spend some time together afterward. At least we could do something during the week maybe. Something. I hope he doesn't have to leave, though. I mean, it would just be my luck to meet someone and have this happen, wouldn't it? Maybe he'll just move back to Austin and we can still see each other. I don't know. I can hope.

Anyway, I guess that's it. I have a job interview tomorrow, but I'm not 100% sure about it. I'm really checking them out as much as they're checking me out. I just wonder about the place and if it's legit, you know? Plus, it's not a creative position, which is a drawback for me. But you never know. Really, I applied for other jobs that I'd rather get interviewed for and I'm hoping I hear from them this week. Please, please, please.

Coffee Meetup

There was a coffee meetup on Wednesday and I'm only just now writing about it. Lazy, I know. But it was a good meetup. I met up with C, who is my neighbor. She lives just a building down from me. She is now the assistant organizer of the group and her boyfriend is now the organizer. They decided to keep it going after Dunn Brother's closed, which is good as a lot of people wanted it to continue. We met this time at Da Vinci Gelato. It was soooo good. Now you know how addicted to Starbucks I am, right? Well, this was pretty darn good. I had an amaretto latte and it came in this pretty glass mug with a little design put in the foam with the espresso. They also gave me a little square of dark chocolate for the coffee. It was so pretty that the organizer, who is an amateur photographer, wanted to get photos of it. A lot of people tried the gelato, which I didn't try as it looked really fattening, although there were promised fat-free selections that I didn't check out. I mainly wanted coffee. I knew I would need to eat again later to take my Geodon, so I didn't want to eat there.

Anyway, there is this other coffee house that is downtown that everyone wanted to try. It's called Ruta Maya and it's one of the top 5 coffee houses in the country. But the meetup is on a Saturday and I can't go. : ( Then they tried to change the date to Sunday, but forgot that the place is closed on Sundays. Darn. So, they'll have to arrange for that another time as well, when other people can go. But I wanted to try the place. There are others coming up, so I'm hoping I can go to some of them. The next one is just at La Madeleine. Should be good as we can get dinner, too.

Not much else going on at present. Still waiting to hear back from the last job interview. They may or may not call me back, but I'm hoping I get called back. I will even beg if they want me to. Really. I'm not above it. But a couple of people at the coffee meetup said they knew people who might be hiring, so I hope that's true. The more leads the better. I gave one guy my business card to give to this other guy, but I think he might have had a crush on me as he kept telling C how cute I was and that I was "like a little doll". Then again, I am tiny, so maybe that's all it was. But C thought he was gonna ask me out at some point. Of course, I am still seeing N, so that probably won't happen.

Well, I guess that's it for now. I'll try to keep updating if stuff actually happens. Take care everyone.

I'm still in the running...

Despite my lack of experience in graphic design, I think the job interview went well. I think it didn't really matter as they said they'll train me, so I'm relieved. Plus, the graphic design stuff they do is all on templates and you basically just drag and drop most of the time. I can handle that easily enough. The other stuff the job entails is what I'd be doing most of the time, so they'd definitely have to train me for that and they said they would. I think my previous jobs have prepared me somewhat for the other duties, so hopefully I'll get a second interview. They're interviewing for the next couple of weeks, then they'll be calling a couple of people back for the second interview. Just PLEASE let me be one of them!

I was supposed to meet N yesterday, but he had plans with a friend for dinner and he was going to meet me after. He said he'd call and he never did. I'm assuming that he just got carried away at dinner and lost track of time. So we'll worry about that later, I guess. He hasn't called today. Anyway, got to hang out with H yesterday. Got our usual Starbucks fix and H gave me a Christmas present. Just a cute little scarf and a $5 Bucky's gift card. Then we did a little shopping. H had a gift card for Barnes and Noble and wanted to get a book. I got a calendar as they were half off. I really wanted this poodle one, but it wasn't marked down. It was the last one, so I couldn't check the other ones. I was disappointed at that, but I got this other one that's nice, too. So now I can keep track of my appointments.

I saw the most adorable Sketchers at Kohl's, but they didn't have a size small enough for me. I mean, the smallest they had was a size 7. Really, short people need shoes, too! Oh well. So then I looked them up on the Kohl's website, and they don't stock smaller than a size 6. I'm a size 5. : ( Then I looked on the Sketchers website, but they cost a lot more there. So I guess I won't be getting them, no matter how cute they are. : ( and : ( again.

But we had fun and promise to do it again soon. She has a birthday coming up, so I have yet another gift to buy. I was hoping I was done with that, but then I remembered the b-day thing, so I guess not. Anyway, will try to keep updating as I hear about the job situation. If I'm really lucky I'll get some more interviews and not have to feel like everything's staked on this one job.